Where are you from originally?
Muswell Hill, London

When did you move and where did you move to?
We moved to Berlin, specifically Prenzlauer Berg (the Muswell Hill of Berlin) last July

Why did you decide to move there? Was the decision related to your music?
We decided to move as we'd exhausted the gigging possibilities in London at the time and didn't want to stagnate- we seemed to be getting offered a similar level gig for a long while- no longer the pay-to-play, bring 30

friends crap, but still the same sort of venue albeit with some occasional travel to places like Oxford and Brighton. We're a very distinctive and divisive band, and don't work well in support slots for the sort of pop band that certain scenes in London generate. The pop band audience don't have a clue as to what to make of us, and no-one gets much satisfaction. At that stage we weren't getting enough credit from the so-called art rock or serious alternative media either. Also, on a personal level, Stacey was sick of her job in London, and I was just sick of the familiarity of the place in general and longed for a change of scenery.

In what ways is your new home country different from your old one?
Well we've come back to London as of this weekend (19th April) and I'm already looking back on our stay in Berlin with rose-tinted glasses. Once we'd found our outstanding German drummer Daniel, and furiously rehearsed the set until we were happy with it, we found the process of booking shows to be very similar to what we're used to, save for one venue in Leipzig who entered our album in some sort of x-factor competition with their punters to determine whether we'd play or not. We found that English bands are given undue advantage when it comes to booking in Germany. Like, a band is automatically better because they're English. We know this isn't actually the case, however promoters go wild for any britpop-derived toss at some of the more populist venues, and it falls to some of the cooler leftfield promoters - such as those at Schokoladen, Antje Oeklesund and Madame Claude to put on German bands and more adventurous music. The language barrier wasn't an issue when it came to gigging, but I think we could have better promoted ourselves if we were more fluent. My German isn't particularly bad, and improved over the year, but I wouldn't claim to be at a conversational level.

In some significant respects the standard of living is higher in Berlin. We could afford to live in a large flat in a beautiful area, eat out cheaply and when the occasion took us drink beer that didn't taste like rat's urine. We were filled with curiosity about this new city, so explored every inch of it cycling and by foot, and explored further afield into Poland and to the surrounding cities by car.

When it came to playing gigs the contrast with London couldn't have been more marked. Firstly, there aren't gigs every night of the week, and there are fewer venues. So these venues get busy. They charge slightly more at the door, so the bands get paid properly. Mostly the bands (who've been at the venue since 6pm, and play a little later, say 10-11pm) get fed and get free drinks or drink tokens. By way of comparison, when we once played the 'Pleasure Unit' in Bethnal Green, Stacey was told off by some old crone for drinking a can she'd bought HERSELF. This lack of respect for the actual musicians is endemic in the UK and can make gigging a rather sour experience.

Did you have any particular difficulties when you first arrived?
Finding somewhere to live within a specific area was difficult, and getting to grips with the bueaucracy. Plus our car was towed-away last September and we had a nervous couple of weeks which involved reporting it stolen to the police and traipsing to the other side of town to get it back. The fastidious recycling takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do it's second nature and the way we do things in the UK suddenly seems archaic and wasteful.

How has moving to a new country influenced your music?
I suspect our music -or at least some of the songs I write- had a Berlin feel before we even

arrived. I don't think it's influenced our music directly, but during the course of the shows we played there we feel we've taken the progression of the songs on the first album as far as we can go. Playing 18 minute sets of extremely short, fast songs has started to get a bit wearing, so expect more space in our music in future.

What tips would you give to a band/artist considering moving to a new country?
Do your research- does the local scene support your sort of music? Berlin has a great history of avant garde artists, but we had little luck attempting to branch out into Poland and Prague - the fanbase doesn't exist for this sort of thing.

Learn the language... if possible!

Try to get local promoters and people who work for venues to help and advise you. They know which shows are worth playing and which are not.

Mostly, have fun and explore your new home. Learn about the culture, the history, meet locals, and don't fall into the part of the stereotypical ex-pat who just hangs out with their own kind in the same sort of bar and venue as other ex-pats.

Interview & photograph by Paul Madden
www.thesailplanes.com

Download 'Photograph the Past' from The Sailplanes debut album, A Second, or Ten Years Later
Watch a video of The Sailplanes performing 'A Knife, A Camera and a Bang' live in Berlin